Overview
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that selectively targets upper and lower motor neurons in the motor cortex, brainstem, and spinal cord, producing muscle weakness, wasting, spasticity, fasciculations, dysarthria, and dysphagia that advance to respiratory failure. Most cases are sporadic, while a minority are familial and linked to mutations in genes such as C9orf72, SOD1, TARDBP, FUS, and OPTN (optineurin); converging pathogenic mechanisms include cytoplasmic mislocalization and aggregation of RNA-binding proteins, disturbed RNA metabolism, proteostatic and autophagy failure, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and glutamate excitotoxicity. ALS exists on a clinical and molecular continuum with frontotemporal dementia, and proteins of the RBM family and other RNA-binding factors are active subjects of structural, cellular, and evolutionary study. Environmental exposures, including the cyanobacterial neurotoxin beta-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA), have been investigated as candidate contributors to motor neuron degeneration. Because disease-modifying options remain limited, management is largely supportive and multidisciplinary, encompassing respiratory support such as diaphragmatic pacing and noninvasive or mechanical ventilation, nutrition, and symptom control. The peer-reviewed research compiled here engages several of these strands, including the molecular biology and phylogenetics of RBM45, optineurin's regulatory roles, BMAA and cyanobacteria in ALS, and respiratory support strategies relevant to motor neuron disease.
Research published in this journal
12 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
The Early Use of Blinding in Therapeutic Clinical Research of Neurological Disorders
The Role of FIP-2 (Optineurin) in Regulation of the Chemokines and Kinases
A Review and Update on the Biochemical Basis of Conscious Breathing (Pranayama)
Healthy Aging and Muscle Dysfunction: Will Melatonin Help?
Murky Water: Cyanobacteria, BMAA and ALS
RBM45: Molecular, Cellular, and Evolutionary Biology
New Antioxidant Flavonoids from the Aerial Parts of Secamone Afzelii
Antioxidative Potential of Consciousness Energy Healing Treatment on HepG2 Cells and DMEM after Oxidative Stress Induced by Hydrogen Peroxide
Diaphragmatic Pacing as an Alternative to Mechanical Ventilation: Early Experience from a Developing Country
Rbm45 Phylogenetics, Protein Domain Conservation, and Gene Architecture in Clade Metazoa
Drug Design Progress of In silico, In vitro and In vivo Researches
How this research is being cited
The 12 articles above have been cited 29 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
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2025 · BMC Genomics
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2025 · Tropical Journal of Natural Product Research
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2024 · Pharmaceuticals
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2024 · Pharmaceuticals
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2023 · Molecules
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2023 · Elsevier eBooks
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2023 ·
A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, linking to each citing work.